Setas de Seville

Last night the Flamenco dancing was very entertaining. I have never seen it before and I don't understand Spanish so don't understand the lyrics, but it does seem to be a very dramatic dance accompanied by deeply emotional singing - to me it seemed more about pain and loss than love. Flamenco dance originates from the gitano subculture of southern Spain and was not allowed during the Franco regime as it was not considered to be part of his views on nationalism.

Seville has really impressed us. It has such beautiful architecture, and while we are used to impressive buildings in London these are more colourful with the traditional ochre and dusty pink colours and painted tiles. The city is very clean, there are people cleaning up the streets and pavements all the time. It would help to speak some Spanish as not everyone speaks English. While it is hot the parks are cool and they have awnings across the narrow lanes to keep the heat off the streets (see last extra).

This morning we were up early and had a lovely run to Plaza de Espana through the Maria Luisa park. It was still cool enough to run at that time and I always prefer seeing a city before the crowds are up and about. After breakfast we went to Setas de Seville, aka the Metropol Parasol. This is a unique structure designed by a German architect who was selected from 65 commissions. It is a wooden structure constructed from Finnish pines and is the worlds largest wooden structure. It consists of six large parasols resembling mushrooms and was built from 2005-2011. We had a rooftop tour where we were also given audio virtual glasses which told us the history of the city’s landmarks we viewed from up there, plus it gave a history of the city. Fascinating that the city was occupied by Julius Caesar in 45 BC after being founded in the Bronze Age. It was later occupied by the Moors in the 8th century until it was reclaimed by the Christians in 1248, when it was the most important port in Europe after Christopher Columbus discovered the new worlds.   Most of the churches have been built on top of the original mosque sites as is the case in much of Spain. 

By now it was so hot we had a slow amble to a cafe where we enjoyed oat milk iced coffees. We decided to go visit Casa de Pilatos which is a beautiful Andalusian palace, the residence of the Dukes of Medinaceli. It is another good example of Mudéjar decorations with arched doorways, exquisite painted tiles, and woodwork. See the second extra for an example of this. 

We found a cafe that served salads for lunch, and then walked back to the hotel to escape the heat of the afternoon. 

Tomorrow we have an early departure to get the train to Córdoba for the day to visit the Mosque-Cathedral. Dinner tonight is at El Traga restaurant.